Mr. Colm Noonan:

I thank the Senator. One very important point is that the liaison sergeant's role is critical because the Barnahus locations will go across a number of Garda divisions. Rather than us having investigating gardaí attending those biweekly meetings from various parts of the country, we have one person who co-ordinates that. We have that relationship that is built up that we see functioning in Barnahus West at present but, certainly, the Barnahus South one will cover many counties and many different Garda divisions. We need that role. We need that person to function as the liaison between us and the organisation in the Barnahus centre.

There is a huge amount of focus on how we can better do the specialist interviewing and how we can better support the child through that process but there is no hard-and-fast rule around how that is best done. Each case is assessed individually and the timing of that interview and the supports that need to be provided for that child are assessed. That is the focus of Barnahus West. It is the focus of all the Barnahuses. Certainly, the fact that we can tailor, adapt and roll out that interview in a very specific way for that child at that time is one of their key functions.